ITCH SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Please do not submit more than FIVE items across categories per issue.

The contents of each issue of ITCH are loosely organised into four categories:

WRITING **

Work that relies on narrative form, in order to tell some kind of story

short fiction

short stories

novellas (excerpts from)

dialogues

scripts or screenplays

short films

oral/audio narratives

non-fiction

essays

in-depth think pieces

opinion pieces

Formatting of WRITING submissions:

Word limit: 5000 words

Please upload your submission into the Submissions window and ensure that all formatting (italics, etc) is correct before uploading.

Up to three images may be submitted along with the WRITING piece. Your main image can be uploaded in the Images tab, the remaining two by following the Additional Images guidelines. All image files must be in RGB colour, JPG file format, 72dpi, and no larger than 900px wide and 1MB per image.

Audio files should be no larger than 5MB in size. Upload in the Media tab.

Video files should be no larger than 50MB in size. We prefer you to submit your piece through an internet link (the submissions portal gives you both the option to upload or to include a link).Upload in the Media tab.

Video files should be accompanied by a still image in RGB colour, uploaded in the Images tab, JPG file format, 72dpi, and no larger than 900px wide and 1MB per image.

POETRY **

Work that expresses ideas, experiences or emotions in non-narrative form (abstract, poetic or experimental)

poetry

experimental writing

sound art

video art

animation

Formatting of POETRY submissions:

Word limit: 1500 words

Please upload your submission into the Submissions window, and ensure that all formatting (italics, etc) is correct before uploading.

Up to three images may be submitted along with the POETRY piece. Your main image can be uploaded in the Images tab, the remaining two by following the Additional Images guidelines. All image files must be in RGB colour, JPG file format, 72dpi, and no larger than 900px wide and 1MB per image.

Audio files should be no larger than 5MB in size.

Video files should be no larger than 50MB. We prefer you to submit your piece through an internet link (the submissions portal gives you both the option to upload or to include a link). Upload in the Media tab.

Video files must be accompanied by a still image in RGB colour, JPG file format, 72dpi, and no larger than 900px wide and 1MB per image. Upload in the Media tab.

** Please note:Most NON-FICTION, WRITING and POETRY pieces are in written form. However, we welcome submissions in other media that achieve aims similar to those described in each section.

VISUAL

Most often, VISUAL works are rooted in some tradition of visual art. We also often publish short video pieces and animations in this section. Interactive works are welcomed, within the limitations of our technological infrastructure.

Graphic designs

Drawings and sketches

Paintings

Photography

Video art

Animations

Computer-generated imagery

Formatting of VISUAL Submissions

Up to 10 images. If you are submitting more than one image, please ensure that they are part of a series or constitute a small body of work (i.e. we do not consider portfolio-style collections). Upload your main image in the Images tab, and the group of 10 images as a zipped file in the Images Gallery tab.

All image files must be in RGB colour, JPG file format, 72dpi, and no larger than 900px wide and 1MB per image.

All image files must be labeled with a title (even if 'untitled') and year of production (no spaces or capital letters). Save each image filename as follows: surname_title_year.jpg

Please do note superimpose text over your image. Submit the text separately in the 'Contents' section, and the images in the Image or Image Gallery section.

Audio files should be no larger than 5MB in size.Upload in the Media tab.

Video files should be no larger than 50MB. We prefer you to submit your piece through an internet link (the submissions portal gives you both the option to upload or to include a link). Upload in the Media tab.

Video files must be accompanied by a still image in RGB colour, JPG file format, 72dpi, and no larger than 900px wide and 1MB per image. Upload in the Media tab.

Issue 18: CHARACTER

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR ISSUE 18Deadline for submissions: : Monday 17 October 2016 Pop your head into any creative writing workshop, and you’ll probably hear the teacher droning on about the importance of character. Character is action. Action is character. Story should never drive character. That these maxims are spouted ad nauseam isn’t some sort of conspiracy, though: these hacks may just be on to something. As they say, character is everything.

But what is character? Is it a person, or a people? The nature of a city or space? Is it the sense or the essence of a time, or the residue of an idea? Or is it closer to a personnage, the indefinable yet undeniable traits that make a human being what they are. Is it all and yet none of the above? Perhaps the meaning of character is closer to the way it is used when talking about response to adversity: when someone shows character in the face of fire, they show themselves. In the end, maybe character is a crutch, that thing that forces us into binary concepts of who we are, that somehow everything needs to find its place in the narrative.

Let us know what the word character says to you: is it something in which to sew the thread of your ideas, or is it an anchor, simultaneously stabilising and restricting what you’re trying to say? Surprise us, confuse us. Do something out of character.

Elan GamakerEditor

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR WORK

To submit an article for issue 18 of ITCH,

register, (if you have not done so already. After registering you will receive an activation link via email)